The Best Airless Paint Sprayer — Buyers Guide, Review, and Comparison

Handheld Airless Paint Sprayers

DIY Airless Paint Sprayers

Professional Airless Spraying Machines

Industrial Airless Spraying Machines

Budget Airless Sprayers

What is an Airless Sprayer?

What to Look for In An Airless Spraying Machine

Airless Paint Sprayer Accessories and Parts

Airless Paint Sprayer FAQs

Types of Airless Spray Equipment

Handheld Airless Spray Painters

The most compact and portable of all the airless units. These innovative machines — typically no larger than a standard SDS drill — incorporate the hydraulic pump into the main body of the shooter. The gun also houses a detachable paint container, which you fill with your coating medium prior to the commencement of your projects.

The advantage of this format is that you don’t have the inconvenience of a bulky floor-sitting or cart-mounted external hydraulic unit to move around. This makes them ideal as an interior home-use unit — able to be pulled out of your kitchen cupboard whenever you need to paint.

However, there is a significant weight-cost. Not only are you holding a spray gun, but also a hefty pump and around 1.5 quarts of paint. This means the machines aren’t ideal for extensive projects unless you have immensely strong arms that are unlikely to suffer from fatigue.

Furthermore, this weight issue also means that the size of the internal hydraulic pump has to be restricted — otherwise, it would simply have too much mass to hold in one hand. Hence, you’ll struggle to find a unit with an output greater than 2000 PSI, compared to the 3000 PSI-plus of the externally driven sprayers.

This results in handheld airless units not providing such rapid coverage as their external counterparts, and achieves slightly less fine atomization.

Due to the above, they remain something of an anomaly in the spraying niche, and are yet to gain significant popularity. DIYers looking for a compact machine typically opt for handheld turbine machines, which are considerably lighter on the pocket, more straightforward in operation, and are lighter to wield.

That said, Graco, the inventor of the world’s first airless sprayer, has a whole range of handhelds, including the remarkably innovative cordless unit, the Ultra Max 17M367.

Externally-Driven Airless Spray Painters

The most popular format of hydraulic painters, externally-driven sprayers feature a ground-sitting or cart-mounted powerhouse to propel the paint. This is connected to a spray gun via a hose, which then delivers and atomizes the coating material.

As it’s separate from the shooter, the pump has no restrictions on size and concomitant weight, meaning that DIY units such as the Graco Magnum X5, can knock out an eye-watering 3000 PSI. This allows these airless sprayers to deliver seriously rapid coverage and ultra-fine atomization — making light work of extensive and time-sensitive projects.

This makes the spray gun impressively lightweight — but there’s more.

Externally-driven airless spray guns don’t incorporate a paint cup. Instead, via a suction hose, the coating medium is drawn through the pump directly from an original container — although some machines like the Wagner Control Pro 130 utilize a floor-sitting hopper that you fill with paint.

Hence, externally-driven sprayers offer the lightest guns in the painting niche — making them ideal for users who lack arm strength or stamina.

Why Choose an Airless Paint Gun?

As mentioned earlier in this airless paint sprayer review, hydraulic machines deliver paint at immense pressure.

If you take the average output of an airless sprayer to be 3000 PSI, this is substantially more powerful than the 10 PSI of HVLP units and the 20 to 40 PSI of standard pneumatic guns.

Naturally, higher power means a greater velocity of delivery — meaning they provide coverage more swiftly than any other power-painting format. This is why many property developers, both residential and commercial, favor these sprayers — as they can speedily cover vast swathes of interior and exterior walls, ceilings, and fences. Furthermore, their beefy nature permits some industrial units — like the Ultra Max II 695 — to run more than one gun, meaning a whole team of tradespeople can work from one machine.

Additionally, their immense brawn permits the majority of airless sprayers to propel the most viscous of paints with no thinning. Again, this is particularly useful for building renovators, where the most commonly used mediums of drywall compounds, block-wall fillers, elastomerics, epoxies, and latexes are of high density.

Furthermore, high pressure promotes serious atomization. The grunty power permits the use of smaller diameter tips than turbines and pneumatics — forcing the coating medium through a narrow chamber creates a fine mist, leading to a stipple-free, smooth coat.

While not exhaustive, here are the advantages and disadvantages of airless spray machines.

Advantages of Airless Spraying

• Speed — faster than turbines or pneumatic sprayers.
• Fine atomization — delivering the smoothest of coats.
• Multi-medium capability — can spray all paints without thinning.
• Control — adjustable pressure output.
• Portability — even external-drives are easier to transport than compressors.
• Versatile — there’s a machine for every job and budget.
• Multi-gun — you can run more than one shooter off some units.
• Lightweight — external-drive guns have no internal motor or paint cup,
• Direct draw — pulling paint from an original can means no refilling.

Disadvantages of Airless Spraying

• Overspray — more wastage than with an HVLP machine.
• Injection injury — high pressure increases the risk of skin damage.
• Pre and post-project work — priming and cleaning times are longer than pneumatic and turbine units.
• Medium-to-large job-specific — the immense power and volume delivery makes them impractical for small, fine-finishing work.

Who Should Use an Airless Sprayer?

The number of models in the airless spraying category is vast, meaning that there is a machine to suit virtually every power-painting enthusiast — budget machines for casual and infrequent users, DIY units for home-improvers, pro-grade sprayers for tradespersons, and industrial-grade tools for hardcore commercial projects. For tips, tricks and advice, check out my How to Use and Set-Up an Airless Sprayer.

In all cases, airless spraying units are ideal for those users looking to address:

• Fencing.
• Decking.
• Walls.
• Ceilings.
• Outbuildings.
• Doors.
• Cinder blocks.
• Boats.
• Soffits.
• Drywalls.
• Fascias.

That said, I have to admit in this airless spray gun review that, like Kanye West, skinny jeans, and sushi — they’re not for everyone.

Aspiring painters looking for a straightforward, straight-outta-the-box, affordable machine would be better looking at a turbine sprayer. Additionally, pro-users seeking the ultimate in finish, versatile tailorability, and customization should angle towards pneumatic paint guns.

What to Look for In An Airless Spraying Machine

Format

Power Output

Nozzle Size

Hose and Cord Length

The length of the mains cord and hose is crucial. The longer these essential components, the further away you can be from a power outlet and, in the case of externally-driven hydraulics, the less frequently you need to relocate the base unit. Although conversely, too much redundant hose and power lead can be a hassle — forming a tripping or strangulation hazard.

Some handheld units, such as the 17M363, are powered by lithium-ion cells — meaning you’re not tethered to the wall nor bound by hose size. But these machines are exceptions rather than the norm.

In addition to the supplied hose, I’d suggest also checking the maximum hose length supported by the airless sprayer. For example, the mighty Graco 210 ES arrives with a 50-foot DuraFlex hose, yet is compatible with up to 200 feet. This means that, should you wish, you can later upgrade to a lengthier hose with no loss of performance.

Time-Saving Features

One of the main reasons why many DIY and pro-users opt for either turbine or pneumatic machines instead of airless units, is that the latter requires significantly more preparation, maintenance, and post-project attention than their counterparts.

Airless sprayers require priming to ensure the paint is flowing thoroughly before use, the high pressure and abrasive materials powering through the pump can cause degradation, and the entire system needs flushing to remove detritus and paint post-job completion.

Understanding these headaches, many of the high-end manufacturers have incorporated features that make airless units more user friendly. While not exhaustive, look out for key features such as:

• Easy-priming — many models, such as the Wagner 170, feature a single-button-press priming feature.
• Auto-oiler — allows you to lubricate the pump and components without dismantling the machine.
• Power Flush — fittings that enable you to hook the unit up to a standard garden hose, and rapidly clean the system with water.

Airless Sprayer Mounting

While externally-driven airless sprayers are powerful — this comes with the concomitant cost of being heavy, reducing their portability.

At the very least, look for a unit mounted on skids or feet, preferably with a carry handle. This ensures that the unit is protected from ground-dwelling dirt, dust, detritus, and water — and also allows for straightforward transportation.

If you have the space, it’s worth considering a unit that’s cart-mounted — allowing you to effortlessly move the hefty sprayer on those larger projects. Some machines, like the Titan Impact 840 come with pneumatic tires — making them ideal for rough construction site work.

Additional Considerations

• pray fan width — larger promotes more rapid coverage.
• Accessories — additional tips, brushes, wrench, storage case.
• Tool-free maintenance — some machines permit rapid pump replacement with no tools.
• Length of warranty.
• Corded or cordless (for handheld models).
• Variable pressure — to suit your coating medium.
• Choice of spray patterns — to suit up-and-down or side-to-side strokes.
• Gun quality — metal guns offer greater durability.